1 in 3 Americans with health insurance have medical debt, survey finds

September 17, 2026 / 11:27 AM EDT / CBS News

Even Americans with health insurance are piling up medical debt, according to a new analysis.

One in three Americans with health coverage through their employer, the Affordable Care Act marketplace or the private market say they have medical debt that they are paying off over time, the Commonwealth Fund, a nonpartisan health policy research group, said in a report on Thursday.

Hospital visits are the primary source of medical debt, with nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults reporting carrying debt related to such care. Patients also carry debt stemming from obtaining routine medical care, such as doctor's office visits or getting lab or diagnostic tests, the study found.

"The primary reason why these people have debt is about the extent to which their insurance covers their out-of-pocket costs," Sara Collins, the study's lead author and a health economist at the Commonwealth Fund, told CBS News.

Almost half of Americans with medical debt, which amounts to about 15% of all working-age, privately insured adults, owe at least $2,000, according to the survey. To pay those bills, 37% said they drained their savings, while 30% reported cutting back on essentials like food, heat…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/